The traditionally blue-collar sport has gone upscale, with penthouse condominiums near racetracks costing $1 million or more.

Nascar Fans Trade the R.V. for a Condo

Experts said that Tehran lacks the skills, materials and equipment to make good on its immediate nuclear goals.

Analysts Say a Nuclear Iran Is Years Away

Tens of thousands of homeowners may be able to return at costs far less than they had feared.

Lenient Rule Set for Rebuilding in New Orleans

A quiet 25-year fight looks increasingly like a civil war, one claiming more and more lives.

In India, Maoist Guerrillas Widen 'People's War'

New details about the manuscript call into question the relationship between antiquities dealers, museums and collectors.

How the Gospel of Judas Emerged

Fighting for Iraq and for a Student Visa

Dave Anderson Sports of The Times column discusses New York Yankees outfielder Bernie Williams, who started in right field for first time since 1992; photo (M)ÿ

Sports of The Times; From Any Angle, No. 51 Is Special

Vitaly Ivanitsky and Marat Krivoi, immigrants eager to ingratiate themselves with drug smuggler Boris Nayfeld, Russian organized crime figure, are charged with murders of Boris Roitman and Thien Diep in 1992; Nayfeld and one of his longtime rivals, Monya Elson, are cooperating with organized crime investigators to avoid prosecution for crime cases (M)

14 Years Later, 2 Killings Are Linked to Russian Mob

Fashion footwear trend toward super high heels and platforms described; practicality of wearing such extreme shoes while walking around Manhattan is questioned; photos (L)

Stilt Walking Into Spring

Profile of and interview with Barney Rosset in light of Samuel Beckett centenary; Rosset introducted Beckett to Americans, publishing Waiting for Godot in United States through his Grove Press; photos (M)

At Beckett's Centenary, His American Discoverer Looks Back

Highlights of 45th International Furniture Fair in Milan, Italy, noted; fair boasts more than 300 product debuts, exhibitions and events and more than 1,500 exhibitors showing their wares at huge new fairground designed by Massimiliano Fuksas; photos (L)

Louche Life

Western nuclear analysts said yesterday that Tehran lacked the skills, materials and equipment to make good on its immediate nuclear ambitions, even as a senior Iranian official said Iran would defy international pressure and rapidly expand its ability to enrich uranium for fuel.      The official, Muhammad Saeedi, the deputy head of Iran's atomic energy organization, said Iran would push quickly to put 54,000 centrifuges on line -- a vast increase from the 164 the Iranians said Tuesday that they had used to enrich uranium to levels that could fuel a nuclear reactor.  

Carlos Ghosn, who now runs both the French automaker Renault and its Japanese affiliate, Nissan Motor, urged his fellow auto executives yesterday to wean themselves from costly incentives, which he said had become ''an insidious, confusing carousel'' on which the companies could not stop spinning.     Mr. Ghosn's plea, made at the New York International Auto Show, came with both General Motors and Ford Motor mired in problems that have led to billions of dollars in losses and their lowest market share in North America in decades.  

Nissan Chief Says Rebates Need to Stop

Houston Texans are expected to take running back Reggie Bush with No.1 pick, but all else in NFL draft is uncertain; photo (M)

Uncertainty Is Now No. 1 as the N.F.L. Draft Nears

The recorded sounds of struggle and panic on United Airlines Flight 93 filled a federal courtroom here today as jurors in the sentencing trial of Zacarias Moussaoui listened raptly to the Sept. 11 hijackers seizing control of the cockpit and passengers trying to retake control, believing it was their only chance to avoid death.     Long silences in the 31-minute recording were punctuated by the cries of the hijackers at the controls, the passengers who were trying desperately to break down the cockpit door and the crashing of objects around the cabin.  

Final Struggles on 9/11 Plane Fill Courtroom

At one time, serious artists avoided illustration like the plague. When abstract formalism ruled in the 1960's, painters were not supposed to use their skills to tell stories of escapist adventure or erotic intrigue, and did not lend their talents to the marketing of shirts and toothpaste -- or to magazines like The Saturday Evening Post.      In today's art circles, it can be hard to find an artist whose work does not illustrate something, and that is partly what makes an exhibition of paintings from the so-called golden age of illustration, ''Stories to Tell: Masterworks From the Kelly Collection of American Illustration,'' now at the Dahesh Museum of Art, surprisingly gripping. In an era that has been shaped by narrators like Philip Guston, Cindy Sherman and, recently, Dana Schutz, it is illuminating to study how skilled and tremendously successful visual storytellers like Howard Pyle, N. C. Wyeth and J. C. Leyendecker performed.  

Illustrations by American Artists at the Dahesh Museum

New York Yankees defeat Kansas City Royals, 12-5; photos (M)6

Sheffield Jolts Bowa, Then Stings the Ball

The sound of automobile traffic was deafening. Inside Jim and Muriel Dollar's two-bedroom penthouse condominium here, a party was going on, and the guests leaned in close in their theater-style leather chairs to make themselves heard, their drinks set in cup holders that occasionally vibrated ever so slightly.      But no one seemed to mind the noise or the tremors. In fact, some had binoculars in their hands to get a close-up view of what was going on nine stories below. That was because the apartment's floor-to-ceiling windows looked directly onto the racetrack of the Atlanta Motor Speedway, where cars were roaring by at speeds up to 190 miles per hour.  

Metropolitan Museum of Art's upcoming AngloMania exhibit on British fashion takes Andrew Bolton, associate curator of Costume Institute, around England searching for right balance of apparel that defines English fashion trends and movements; Bolton meets with Vivienne Westwood, who was defining designer for Sex Pistols and almost single-handedly started punk fashion trend; discusses fine line between offensive and thought-provoking fashion; some pieces are being created just for exhibit; photos (L)

Raiding London's Closet

Chinese real estate magnate Feng Lun leases top five floors of Larry Silverstein's Seven World Trade Center; is first and only major tenant of building that looks over ground zero; is head of Vantone Group; will pay $53 a square foot, about $200 million over 15 years for 200,000 square feet of space; hopes to set up relationships with companies seeking to do business with Chinese companies (M)

Tycoon of Chinese Real Estate Is Leasing at Trade Center Site

Angelo Cosentini and Maya Neighbour complete renovations of abandoned hotel in Catskills they bought in 1994; put staggering amount of time into project, working every available weekend for 10 years, and ended up with dream house; photos (M)

A 50-Room Hotel Rebuilt for Two

New York Mets defeat Washington Nationals, 3-1; photos (M)9

Martínez: Good Guy in Mets' Black Hat

Nicknames, which have been in existence for centuries, are changing in Internet world; unlike traditional nicknames, many e-mail handles and computer nicknames are determined by users rather than those around them; new nicknames are also generally more descriptive of user's personality than traditional nicknames that reflect physical trait or simply shorten given name; drawing; photos

Mi, a Name I Call Myself. And You Are?

When the National Geographic Society announced to great fanfare last week that it had gained access to a 1,700-year-old document known as the Gospel of Judas, it described how a deteriorating manuscript, unearthed in Egypt three decades ago, had made its way through the shady alleys of the antiquities market to a safe-deposit box on Long Island and eventually to a Swiss art dealer who ''rescued'' it from obscurity.     But there is even more to the story.  

 In Indian Villages, Maoist Rebels Widen a 'People's War'  Troops from the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army ''have made the people aware of how to change your life through armed struggle, not the ballot,'' according to a commander in east-central India. The forces hew to Mao's script for a peasant revolution, and the fighting, simmering for 25 years, now looks more like a civil war.    PAGE A12    New Medical Diagnostics  A test that uses DNA technology to predict the risk of cancer recurrence is part of a wave of tests that may remake the diagnostics business, through technology and the way the tests are developed and sold.    PAGE C1    Iraqi Parliament to Meet  Iraq's acting speaker of Parliament, Adnan Pachachi, said he would convene a session on Monday, despite a political impasse as Shiite leaders mulled their options for prime minister.    PAGE A10    William Sloane Coffin Dies  The former chaplain of Yale University, who championed civil rights and campaigned against the war in Vietnam, was 81.    PAGE A21    Jackson Nears Beatles Deal  The pop star Michael Jackson is said to be near a deal to avoid bankruptcy by refinancing millions of dollars in loans and giving up a stake in a song catalog that includes hits by the Beatles.    BUSINESS DAY, PAGE C1    TV's Survival of the Fittest  As network programmers scrutinize new shows to decide what to keep and what to drop, things look good for CBS.    THE ARTS, PAGE E1    Google Accepts China Censor  Google's chief executive, who has been criticized for complying with Chinese censorship, said the company had no plans to lobby to change the law there.    BUSINESS DAY, PAGE C7

INSIDE

Dame Muriel Sarah Spark was a Scottish novelist, short story writer, poet and essayist.

Muriel Spark, Scottish novelist, poet, and critic (born 1918)

Muriel_Spark

The United Front for Democratic Change was a Chadian rebel alliance, made up of eight individual rebel groups, all with the goals of overthrowing the government of Chadian president Idriss Déby. It is now part of the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development. UFDC was founded between 26–28 December 2005 in Modeina in eastern Chad. FUC's "president" is Mahamat Nour Abdelkerim, the former leader of the Rally for Democracy and Liberty rebel group, "first vice president" Hassan Salleh Algadam, "second vice president" Abakar Tollimi, and "secretary-general" Abdelwahit About. On 18 December the RDL and another allied rebel group, Platform for Change, Unity and Democracy, attacked the city of Adré. The attack was repulsed by the Chadian military, and the Chadian government accused the Sudanese government of supporting the rebels, which Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir denies. Chad declared a "state of belligerance" with Sudan on 23 December 2005, resulting in the Chad-Sudan Conflict. The result was the Tripoli Agreement.

The United Front for Democratic Change's attack on the Chadian capital of N'Djamena is repelled by the Chadian army

April 13, 2006

Headlines from April 13, 2006

Nascar Fans Trade the R.V. for a Condo

Analysts Say a Nuclear Iran Is Years Away

Lenient Rule Set for Rebuilding in New Orleans

In India, Maoist Guerrillas Widen 'People's War'

How the Gospel of Judas Emerged

Billboard 200

King

Greatest Hits Vol 2: Reflected

High School Musical

FishScale

Educated Horses

Notable Deaths

Historical Events

Historical Context for April 13, 2006